Improvement in foot scrapers and cleaners



N. mm. a. A. WILLIS. FOQT-SCRAPERS AND CLEANERS No. I $8,612, Patented March 20,1877.

Witnesses.

/ Fin/15% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEWTON ELLIS AND GEORGE A. WILLIS, OF CAMERON, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS TO A. O JACKMAN, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOOT 'SCRAPERS AND CLEANERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 188,612, dated March 20,1877; application filed July 17, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, NEWTON ELLIS'aJnl GEORGE A. WILLIS, of Cameron, in the county of Clinton and State of Missouri, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in a Foot Scraper and Cleaner; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ot'the construction and operation of the same, reference being; had to the annexed drawings. making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures ofreterence marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is aperspective view of this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the foot portion.

' This invention has relation to means for cleaning mud and dust from boots and shoes and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the base and uprights t'ornr ing two compartments, the scraper let into slots of the uprights in one compartment, and in the othercompartment the lateral brush connected to the uprights by springs, and the sole-brush fastened to the base below said lateral brushes, as hereinafter shown and described.

In the annexed drawings, the letter A designates the base, which, as constructed, is a board of some thickness.

Dovetailed into the foot-boards are stand ards, twoot" which, B B, are provided. with slots at in their upper edges to receive the steel scraper (l, which is therefore arranged lcngthwiseoi' the foot-board. This scraperis designed to be removable from its bearings a.

The third upright .B is arranged at the end of the board opposite to the central upright B, and these boards serve. for the attachment of the rear ends of the horizontal springs s, which are fastened to theinner walls, and extend inward and forward obliquely to the lateral horizontal brushes 1), to the backs of which they are fastened. The springs are,

therefore, bent at each end transversely; their middle portions making with the uprights angles of about thirty degrees.

The brushes are horizontally arranged with their bristles toward each other. and they are designed to form an angle with each other, opening toward the rear, as shown, so as to form an open space for the introduction of the foot, whereby the brushes D will beparted, so as to operate lengthwise on the sides of the foot. On the withdrawal of the i'oot the springs are designed toresume their former position.

Under the lateral brushes D is located the sole-brush E, the back of which is placed in themortise in the base-board, and the bristles of which extend upward toward said latcral brushes and the space between them.

The steel scraper is designed for the removal of clods and masses of mud from the shoes, and the brushes to clean the remaining dust rapidly from the soles and sides of the same.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The shoe-cleaner herein described, consisting of the base A and its uprights, the lateral horizontal brushes D, forming an acute angle with each other, and having their bristles' facing each other, the oblique attachmentsprings s, connecting said lateral brushes and uprights, and the sole-brush E, attached to said base, and having its bristles upward under said lateral brushes, substantially as specitied.

In testimony that weclaim the above we have hereunto subscribed our names in the presence of two witnesses.

NEWTON ELLIS. GEO. A. WILLIS. Witnesses:

Jno. F. K ss, G. W. STONE. 

